The birthday/holiday/event months

February and March are crazy birthday months for us. It begins on February 5, which is my sister-in-law's birthday. From there, it spirals madly out of control. February 11 is my son's wedding anniversary. February 12 was Lincoln's birthday as well as my father-in-law's and ex-husband's birthday. Then, of course, there is Valentine's Day, which is also the birthday of one of my aunts (I just love her to death) and of a good friend of mine. They are followed immediately by February 15, the birthday of two co-workers and another friend. February 20 is my other aunt's birthday (Dad's sister). She turned 77. February 21 this year was President's Day. Every year it is my friend Sharlene's birthday. February 22 is my husband's birthday, which he shares with our first president. Sharlene's husband's birthday is the 23rd, as well as that of a very close friend from high school. Another good friend (his daughter is at the same college as my son and his wife and I gave birth just one week apart) has his birthday on the 25th. Now comes March - my daughter-in-law's birthday is the 4th. Mine is the 8th. I share that with my former assistant, Carl, and my recently deceased stepdad, Pat. My grandson's birthday is the 16th (I begged my daughter to have him on the 8th, but Tyler didn't comply) and my grandmother's birthday was the 19th. She'd have been 97 this year. She passed away just last summer. She and the aforementioned 77 year-old aunt lived together for years and years. They were quite proud of being Pisces and happy to include me in that club. Another close friend has his birthday on the 20th. My sister's birthday is March 25, to sort of cap off the madness. Oddly, I remember every one of them by heart every year. But I'm a numbers sort of gal and generally always remember birthdays.

Unfortunately, Tom came down with the flu or something yesterday. He had a miserable day at work. He couldn't keep anything down - or in - not even water, so he was very dehydrated and weak and he had to work. Jonathan came home last night to talk to us - he'd gotten into a bit of trouble at school and needed to tell us about it. Sadly, Tom just wasn't in any condition to really talk to him, but he listened and gave his comments. I have always believed that Jonathan is at Whitworth for a reason, and this latest incident has strengthened that feeling. He didn't do anything horrible, just broke a rule, for which he has consequences to pay. The good news is, it has caused him to think about what he's been doing, where he's headed, etc. and to actually start to think about his spiritual life. That's an awesome and something I have been praying for. I'm hoping the changes he wants and intends to make will expose him to new people and give him an opportunity to make new friends. He is going to go to church with his RA on Sunday - that totally rocks! He really likes his RA and feels he can really trust him. He opened up and shared a lot of really personal things with him - something he's not usually inclined to do. It is working out totally for the best. I just am so thankful that God has a plan - even when I might think He doesn't - or think I have to have one "just in case". God does have a plan and He will accomplish His purpose, despite our foolishness.

So, back to the birthdays - Tom is feeling much better today. He was dreading going to work because it's also the day of his annual review. He figured he was going to have to fight with his boss about his on-road numbers. Surprise, surprise! She told him he got a 7 - the highest you can get - in that category. He was convinced he wouldn't because they've been set so high he has only been achieving about 85% in on-road productivity most days. They talked so long about that part of his review they didn't get to finish it, so he'll have to finish it tonight or tomorrow, but so far, it looks good. He's used to getting a 6.8, 6.9, or 7 on his review, and has for 18 years. Anything less, for him, is simply unacceptable. So, a sort of birthday present - knowing he got a 7 in on-road. He probably will only want soup for dinner, so no fancy birthday dinner. I am going to get him a little present - nothing big, just a nose-hair trimmer - and just try to make tonight as nice as I can for him. He is now officially a senior citizen - 55.

I finished my e-rate application last Friday. That was the deadline. It was so hectic. I applied for over $40,000 in discounts! If we get fully funded, we can do all sorts of stuff we would have had to wait a couple of years to do. We will only have to pay $20,000 for $60,000 worth of services and equipment (new servers, voice mail system, etc.) so it's very cool. We're also going to switch from T1 to DSL in this building, providing us with 7 times the download speed, and from 256k to T1 at the branch in Clark Fork, which will be huge. The gross costs will be the same as we're paying now. The net costs, once e-rate kicks in, will be so much less than we're paying now it's going to be great.

So, that's the latest. I've been so busy with work and haven't had anything I felt was interesting enough to write about - not that this is all that earth-shattering - that I've neglected my blog. I will try to get back on track. Not that anyone is reading this... but you never know...

Ol’ Blue Four Eyes

I started wearing glasses in 7th grade. I distinctly remember the first day in class after I got my glasses. I remember looking at the clock in the classroom and was surprised to see that there were dots noting the minutes between the numbers. I never been able to see them before. The reason no one had noticed my vision problems before 7th grade was that I was one of those kids who always sat in the front of the classroom, so I could see the blackboard just fine. Turned out my vision was pretty awful - 20/425 in my right eye and 20/375 in left. So, from 7th grade on, I wore glasses. I officially became a nerd and totally looked the part. We were poor growing up. When wire rimmed glasses came into style, I wanted a pair so bad. I was convinced wire rims would make me cool. We were on public assistance during my junior high and high school years. The good news was, for the first time in our lives, we kids got medical, dental and vision care. The bad news was, MediCal would only cover plastic frames, not wire rim frames. Goodbye cool. By the time I was a freshman in college, I decided I really wanted contact lenses. But in 1972, the only contacts regularly prescribed were hard {crunch} glass lenses. They were notoriously difficult to adapt to. Then, a scientific miracle (to me at least) - soft contact lenses!! By the end of my freshman year of college I had saved enough money to get them. I'll never forget the first day I had them. I could see everything, no frames, no borders, I could see! I adapted to them very quickly, wearing them all day within a week. I was in heaven!

I endured the mixing of saline solution to clean them, the boiling to disinfect them, the milky white spots that would form on them, necessitating replacement lenses (later discovered to be protein deposits that were cooked on during the boiling process) a couple of times a year. I was one of the first to get extended wear lenses back in the early 80's. I've done it all when it comes to soft contacts. I've worn them exclusively for 32 years. I never saw any reason to wear anything else. But my astigmatism in my right eye has gotten worse, necessitating that I wear a toric lens in my right eye. Unfortunately, for some bizarre reason, the lens wants to twist off axis when I wear it. I've tried about 5 different brands. Some are worse than others, but they all twist. Even when the doctor sees that the lens goes off axis 10 degrees to the right, and orders a lens weighted to sit 10 degrees to the left, hoping to negate the twist, it still twists. He doesn't understand it. He did say there are about 200 brands from which to choose, and one is bound to work, but it's getting frustrating. Adding to the problem is the fact that, with my contacts in, my near vision is not as good as it used to be. If the light isn't bright enough, if the print is really small, I need reading glasses. Without my contacts, I can read anything in any light, I just can't see past the end of my nose (well, it seems like that anyway). So, I decided it was time to get glasses that corrected my myopia, my astigmatism, and my presbyopia, and just accept the fact that I need to wear glasses during the work week. So, I ordered drill mount (rimless) glasses with progressive lenses. I've been wearing my "backup" glasses (they don't correct my near vision) for the last few weeks while at work since I've been getting headaches trying to deal with the twisting right lens, lifting them up to read small stuff in poor light. I figured the new glasses would look better (less like I'm wearing glasses) and let me see everything in every light condition. So, they came in last night. Actually, they came in day before yesterday at the optician in Coeur d'Alene I had to go to in order to take advantage of the vision coverage I now have under Tom's insurance. I had Tom pick them up on his way home last night. I put them on only to discover that they are in serious need of adjustment. I'll get that done this morning at the WalMart vision center. Beyond that, wow, is it weird to have this portion of the lenses magnifying everything. If you don't look through them properly, like tip your head down a bit to look at the computer screen so you're looking through the myopia correcting part of the lens and not the presbyopia correcting part, you can't see. Tip your head to the side and everything gets distorted. I hope I can adapt to them. Millions of people do, so why wouldn't I? But boy, it's really weird - and a bit nauseating.

So, now, instead of being old blue eyes, I am definitely old four eyes. Just in time for my 50th birthday. Ugh.

Insanity Reigns/Rains/Reins

I think I am going to go crazy. Many who know me would say I have already done so. Perhaps they are right. What other explanation could there be for the constant state of "overwhelmedness" in which I find myself? I am overwhelmed at work by the chaos in my office, the never-ending call of computers that need upgrading or repairing, the continual stream of requests for assistance from staff and patrons, the stack of papers on my desk that grows exponentially on an hourly basis, the network maintenance needs that demand immediate attention "or else", the management responsibilities that are currently in a state of flux thanks to the boss and his zealous conversion to a new customer service model which he is pushing like a proselyte to the entire staff, e-rate funding with its looming deadlines, email, phone calls to and from vendors so I can budget for e-rate requests, mandatory reading of professional texts, and the time-sucking meetings we are forced to endure for hours each week. At home I am overwhelmed by overstuffed cupboards seriously in need of organizing and "de-junking", the clutter on my dresser, the mountain of filing on the kitchen counter, housework that has gone undone for too long, books I want to read for pleasure but for which I cannot seem to find the time, cooking, shopping, laundry. Personally I am overwhelmed by the things I want to do and learn that lurk in my brain begging to be given their audience. I want to take pictures - amazing, artistic, well-composed, interesting, pictures. I want to paint - watercolor, oil, acrylic, anything, just paint. I want to write - my novel, this blog, just stuff. I want to learn how to make awesome web sites. I want to learn how to really use Photoshop not just to tweak photos, but to create cool graphics for the web sites I design. I want to learn ASP.NET. I want to learn CSS. I want to learn Java, C++, Visual Studio.NET. I wish I could stop wanting to learn and do all these things. It seems like life would be so much calmer if I could just stop my brain. I lie awake at night thinking about so much stuff it takes me forever to fall asleep. I wish I could just flip a switch and shut off the noise in my brain. See, I AM insane. Insanity reigns in my life, rains down upon me, and has me by the reins. I need a long vacation.

What's next?

This has been a really strange winter. First, we had probably a record low amount of snow through the end of last year. Then, we finally get a few inches here and there, but not enough to really make it feel like a real winter. Then we get wicked cold, which means it's way too cold to snow. I have one of those nifty electronic weather station thingees at home with a remote thermometer outside so I can see both the inside and outside temps to the tenth of a degree. It got down to -3.8 one night and pretty much stayed around zero all day. These ultra low temps lasted for several days. The days were sunny, but cold and windy. Yesterday, MLK day and a holiday for me, I awakened to falling snow. I had planned to go in to work. Holidays are great for getting all sorts of maintenance done with no interruptions and the ability to restart servers at will. When I saw the snow, and no sign that it would relent, I decided to stay home and work from home. Ah, technology! I can work on at least half the computers at work remotely, running service packs and other updates, installing software, etc. It's great. The only thing I can't do is install operating systems, which requires I physically be at the computer. So, I installed Windows XP SP2 on all our new computers, installed some apps that I hadn't had a chance to install, and did a bunch of maintenance, all from the comfort of my sofa while I caught up on a bunch of stuff I had TiVo'd. All the while, outside it snowed and snowed and snowed - nearly a foot of the white stuff fell! My husband came home on his "lunch" break (at 4:30PM) and snowblowed the driveway while I made his dinner. The plows had yet to come to our neighborhood and he was worrying about whether or not the Beetle would make it down our street when he came home. The clearance is only about 4" and the snow was much deeper than that! When he left after lunch to head down to Coeur d'Alene to end his day, he drove his 4-wheel drive van up and down the street a few times to make a path for the Beetle. He called me at 7;30PM. He had left Sandpoint at 5:40PM for the drive to Coeur d'Alene (normally an hour drive) and was only just leaving CdA to head home. Ugh. The roads were nasty, accidents and slide-offs abounded. The news was stating that in Spokane freezing rain had been falling all day, coating the roads, sidewalks, and cars with a thick layer of ice. Apparently, that's what Tom had run into on his way to CdA. Jonathan called to tell me that school was cancelled for Tuesday. I'm sure the president of Whitworth had decided not to force his staff to travel treacherous roads. Jonathan said just walking to the dining hall was a test of balance and ice skating skills. Fortunately, by the time Tom started driving home, it was warming up and the roads were a little less slick. He actually made it home in about 75 minutes. Still no snow plows. So, he went out and plowed out a lane the length of our street. His fear was that if the plows didn't come before he left for work at 5:45AM, he definitely wouldn't get the Beetle out. It had started raining and the foot of fallen snow was holding water like crazy. It would be too high for the Beetle to get through and he'd likely end up high-centered. So, he snowblowed for an hour. This morning, it's raining like mad, it's about 40 degrees outside, but in the higher elevations the roads are water on ice. The plow finally came down our street at about 7AM. Schools are closed all over the region. Of course, it's Winter Carnival in Sandpoint. Every single year, without exception, we get a huge warm-up, usually accompanied by Chinook winds (warm winds like the Santa Anas in California), and all the snow melts. You'd think they'd figure this out and move the date to a week earlier or later. It used to be in February and we had beautiful snow sculpture competitions, with scultpures on nearly every corner in town. For the past umpteen years, the snow sculpture competition has been ruined by rains and warm temps. I miss the sculpture contest. I wish they'd get a clue and change the dates. Anyway, it is now warm, raining, melting the snow, which will bring flooding in some areas....what's next?

Murphy's Law

Tuesday night was awful. I got really sick. I don't know if it was the flu or what, but I was nauseated, alternated between being brutally hot, then I'd break out in a cold sweat, then get the chills, and then do it all over again, all night long. I also had back spasms and shooting pains down my legs all night. I was afraid to take any ibuprofen, cerrtain that I'd vomit it up. I didn't sleep more than 15 minutes at a time. It was terrible. I got up to do the whole mocha/lunch thing for my husband and lasted about 5 minutes before dizziness and nausea sent me right back to bed. At 6AM I called and left a message at work that I would be home sick. I finally fell asleep at about 6:30AM (I got up the nerve to take the ibuprofen, which knocked out the fever and back spasms, allowing me to sleep). At 8:30 I was jangled awake by my cell phone. It was work. "I'm so sorry to call you but....." was how the call began. Naturally, the day I'm not coming in, the servers decided to break. Apparently, our webserver wasn't working. To be more specific, once I had the caller go to the server closet to check on the offending machine, the hard drive seemed to have crashed! Why!?!? Why when I am SICK is it doing this to me? I could just say "oh well, no web server or online catalog today. I'm sick." But no, I feel compelled to go in. So, I throw on some clothes, brush my teeth and hair, and head to town. I was figuring I'd be rebuilding the server, which is a huge undertaking, so planned to be there all day. Fortunately, the SCSI controller for the hard drive has a nice utility that verifies the hard drive and moves data from bad sectors to good ones. After a few minutes of trying some other things, I ran the utility. It did indeed find bad sectors and remapped them to good ones. Voila! The server rebooted and all was well. Elapsed time - about 90 minutes. Back I head to my bed. Unfortunately, sleep eludes me. I channel surf for a bit, until the mind numbing garbage on the tube puts me in the mood to sleep once again. I head to bed. About an hour into the nap my phone rings again. No way. This can't be! "I am so sorry to call again...." Yeah, right. If you were sorry, you wouldn't call!!! This time, both the web server and the proxy server are down, meaning no internet access, no online catalogs, no web site. The caller tells me that there are no lights on the two servers and the monitor won't come on. Hmmm... no power, obviously, but how can that be? They are plugged into a battery backup and the power is on at the building. The battery backup must have died for some reason. So, I attempt to walk the caller through hooking up a brand new backup I have by the servers. Easy. Just open the box, plug it in, turn it on, then plug the servers into it. Why is this difficult? Three people get involved. They can't seem to figure out how to trace the power cord from the back of the server to where it's plugged into the old backup so they unplug the correct power cord and plug it into the new backup. I am pulling my hair out on the other end of the phone. I can't figure out how to explain this more simply. Finally, they claim to have them plugged in to the new backup, but still no power. I ask them if the new backup is on - are there lights on it? They say there are, it is. I am at my wit's end. I head to work. I go to the server room.... the backup is not turned on. I turn it on, all is well. Elapsed time, 45 minutes including drive to and from. Unbelievable.

Why is it I can work day in and day out, 9-10 hours a day and the servers are fine. I take a day off, call in sick, whatever, something goes down? This happens almost without exception. Murphy's Law.

I went to work on Thursday at 10, was tired, weak, so I went home at 4. A record short day for me.... I'm well now.

New Year's Resolutions

I never make them... well, not officially. I make them in my head and don't tell anyone so if I don't stick to them, no one will be the wiser. Smart, eh?

Internet at home has been FUBAR for nearly two weeks now. When Jonathan was home, he experienced frequent outages at hours I would never have had occasion to know the status of our connection, like 1:00 AM. For the past two weeks service has been sporadic. I have called and complained five times now, three in the past two days. I have had NO connection whatsoever for three days. Since I rely on that connection for blogging and working from home, I have been a less-than-happy camper. I have relentlessly lodged my complaints and frustrations, have provided the cable provider with my cell phone number so they could reach me wherever or whenever. Do you think they've called? Of course not. Now, this is a small town. The gal who manages the local cable office knows me. She knows I know a LOT of people. I thought she'd have called me by now. She hasn't. So, I called her this morning. She was very nice, just like the people I talked to at the 800 number when I reported my outages. All very nice, all very apologetic. The local gal told me they were experiencing "trouble with a distribution line" in my neighborhood and that others were out as well. Well, gee whiz, why didn't someone tell me that??? I have been wondering if the problem was mine alone, was my cable modem, was my "box" outside... wondering. If someone had told me that they know there is a problem, that it isn't just me, that they are working on it, I would have been a lot less frustrated the past few days. For crying out loud, they have all my phone numbers! Why not a call or a message saying "we realize you're having problems, we're working on it" instead of just ignoring me? Very poor customer service. I told the local gal as much. I was nice, but explained that not letting a customer who has called repeatedly about a problem that things are being worked on is poor customer service. Supposedly, I will have internet when I get home today. We'll see. In the meantime, I am going to write a letter to someone at Northland Cable telling them they need to work on their communication of outages to their customers. I just need to figure out who that person is.

It's snowing, finally. Not a lot, but it will help the ski areas. Unfortunately, tomorrow Tom and I have to leave Sandpoint at 5:30 AM for a trip to Spokane where he will undergo surgery to remove the atypical fibroxanthoma melanoma on his left upper cheek. It is outpatient surgery, so he should be ready to go home by noon. I hope he doesn't get sick from the anesthesia. The doctor's office did call the hospital here to find out what anesthesia combo he was given when he had a tonsil removed last year because it was the first time he had been anesthetized that he didn't get violently ill. They will, hopefully, use the same concoction and he will be fine when he wakes up. It won't be a fun day, regardless.

Jonathan is taking snowboarding and Internet Applications for his Jan Term classes. He goes 3 hours a day (9-12) Monday-Friday to Internet Apps and then Wed/Fri from 12:30-6:00 for snowboarding. The term is 3 weeks long. He had his first snowboarding class yesterday. The snow is pretty pathetic at Mt. Spokane, but it was acceptable. He was in a lesson pretty much the entire time, which did not thrill him. He has been boarding for 8 years and figures he knows all he needs to know since he doesn't plan to race. He has likely picked up some bad habits, which I'm sure the instructor is trying to correct, to his chagrin. He was pretty tired when he got home. Internet apps is a different story. They are going to learn an awful lot in a very short period of time. I hope he learns some stuff he can use to help me with the web sites I maintain. It could be really great!

I have tried to work on my novel, but work is too busy. I just fall into an exhausted heap when I get home. I have just finished setting up 20 new computers on the main floor. I have 9 to go (not counting mine). The remaining 9 are for staff so they will require a lot more work as I will have to transfer settings and files, reinstall apps, etc. I'm kind of dreading it. Speaking of that, I should get cracking. One of my resolutions - be more productive at work.

I did start working out regularly. I have not been going in the early AM, preferring to blog or write, so I decided I'd go when Tom takes his break. That means I leave work about 3 or 4 and go workout, then come back to work for an hour or two or three. So far, so good. Now, get the diet under control and I may reach my goal of losing 20 pounds by my 50th birthday on March 8. I am not going to be fat and fifty!!! My new mantra!

Back to work...

A White Christmas after all

Well, after days and days of no snow, in fact, no precipitation at all, we got about 3" of snow on Christmas Eve. How perfect was that? For you Whitworth students, I don't think Spokane got much, although the north end of Spokane does tend to get more than downtown and the Valley. We spent Christmas day at our oldest son's house in the Spokane Valley, which had no snow, but we had awakened to snow on Christmas morning. There was even more snow when we got home at about 6:30PM. It hasn't snowed since, and I don't think any more is predicted for several days, to the chagrin of the ski resorts. It was nice to have a White Christmas, though. It was as it should be.

I'm too busy for my blog, too busy for my blog...

Okay, you have to remember Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy in order to get the title. I can't help it, I love that song. But I have a good reason. My favorite uncle in the world, Nick, is the coolest person and so much fun to hang out with. When Jonathan was about 10 we went to Disneyland for his first time. During that trip, we met my uncle in Balboa, where we all stayed for a week. Nick has worked out for pretty much his whole life. Unfortunately, unlike my husband, he was not blessed with great genetics. He has a great physique, especially for a guy his age (he's in his 60's now), but he will never have the symmetry and muscle shape of a bodybuilder. Tom, on the other hand, has great genetics. He has huge biceps (19-20"), great round shoulders, great triceps that are very defined, great pectorals...he's just one of those people who make you sick because he looks so great and can eat just about anything. Anyway, Nick always teases Tom about how Tom will never be as big as him, never have as great a body as him, etc. During our visit in Balboa as we were all walking around in shorts and tank tops, Nick kept singing "I'm too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shorts, too sexy for my clothes" and just cracking us up. It was just the way he'd launch into that song at a moment's notice and the huge smile on his face and his laugh. I suppose you had to be there, but it's a great memory of a great trip and a great uncle. I can never hear I'm Too Sexy without thinking of Nick. In fact, on my last cell phone I downloaded I'm Too Sexy as a ringtone for Nick. It was great.

Anyway, I've been way too busy to blog or work on my novel. Between setting up the 34 new Dell computers we just got in at work, Christmas shopping, wrapping, and decorating, and just plain LIFE, I have had zero time to blog. So... that's it. This is just an interim post to say

Merry Christmas to everyone! Happy New Year to you too!!!!

Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink

Well, this weekend could not have been more of a disaster if we'd planned it - but it does have a happy ending. Saturday morning I went to throw some trash in the garbage cans. This entails going through the laundry room to the garage. My cat had been acting strangely, "asking" me to go into the laundry room for some reason, which I suspected was her way of telling me her catbox needed cleaning. As I approached the door to the laundry room I saw water. Uh-oh! Even without my contacts in I could see water covering the floor. I hollered "Honey, we have a problem!" Tom came down the hall and instantly his face filled with dread. He got out the shop vac and started sucking up the water as I attempted to rescue the things that were on the floor, now soaking wet, like the box of laundry soap, the litter box, and some laundry waiting to be washed. I grabbed every available towel to help soak up water while Tom vacuumed. At that point we weren't sure if it was the water heater or the washer. It didn't look like nearly enough water to have come from the 40 gallon water heater. I crossed my fingers and hoped it was the washer. I wouldn't mind getting a new one. ;) That was not to be the case. During the water-sucking phase, as Tom cleaned up around the water heater, he saw water dribbling out of the overflow pan on the bottom of the water heater. Ugh. Once the water was cleaned up, we tried to relight the pilot. No gas seemed to be coming out, which was odd. Tom got down and looked inside where the pilot should have been. That was when he saw the pinhole in the tank with water spraying out of it. Great. Saturday morning... no one is open. I knew this was going to be expensive!

Our gas water heater is power vented. In most installations, the water heater is vented up through the ceiling/roof. If, for some reason, it cannot be vented straight up and needs any sort of turns in the vent pipe at all, one must install a power-vented unit. In our case, we have cathedral ceilings throughout the house. The water heater happens to sit in a spot where the ceiling is 15 feet above it. We didn't want an ugly pipe going all the way up to the ceiling so we cut a hole in the wall to the outside (it sits right next to an exterior wall) and installed a power vent model. Unfortunately, that makes replacing it an ordeal. First of all, we had to find another power vent water heater from someplace that was open on a Saturday. That immediately x's out the plumbing supply houses. Secondly, it had to fit some very specific dimensions. It couldn't be taller than the existing water heater or we'd be looking at cutting a new hole in the wall...not an option. It couldn't be more than 3" greater in diameter or it wouldn't fit into the spot of the existing one thanks to where the last plumber put the gas piping. I started making phone calls.

I got in touch with one plumbing outfit. They had no water heaters in stock but could do the work if we got a water heater - for a rather hefty price. I called every place in Sandpoint I could think of that might carry water heaters. Many did have water heaters, just not power vented ones. Sears was our best shot. They had one in stock, but we needed to measure it to see if it would fit. We trekked over there, got them to open up the box, and realized it was 2" too tall. We talked to the plumber again who said he might be able to get one of the plumbing supply houses to open up and check their stock. In the meantime, we have no water, can't take showers, and have our granddaughter's birthday party to go to. On top of that, Jonathan was coming home to study for finals and was hoping I'd help quiz him on some stuff. By 1PM we were no closer to having water, a water heater, or any resolution to the problem. I called Home Depot in Coeur d'Alene. They had one that sounded like it would work - and it was not that expensive - $389 (the Kenmore was $519). We were starved and frustrated. We decided that, in lieu of a shower, we could jump into the hot tub and at least get a little cleaner. We took about a half hour soak, made ourselves halfway presentable, and went to grab a burger. While we were eating, the plumber called. The plumbing supply house had one that would fit - it was actually about 9" shorter and we could do shorter - but it was $785!!! Yikes! We heard all about how much better quality it was, blah, blah, blah, and how Home Depot sells inferior quality, blah, blah, blah... We passed. We decided we had to do the birthday party at 5, then head to CdA to Home Depot to get the water heater.

While at the party, Jonathan arrived from Spokane. He decided to go home and begin studying after the party while we trekked to CdA. After an hour, we bade everyone goodbye and headed down the road. We got to Home Depot about 7:30. We still weren't positive this unit would be the right height, but we had no other options. When we got to Home Depot, we headed to the water heater section. We ran into Dwayne. The guy was amazing! He'd been a plumber for 28 years before going to work for Home Depot. He tore the box open so we could take measurements. Yes!! It would work! Then, he proceeded to explain to Tom and me how to go about putting together the piping for the pressure relief valve in a way that would not require soldering. He was soooooo helpful! If I could give this guy an award, I would! I will call Home Depot today to tell them exactly what I think of the guy. I hope when the new Home Depot in Sandpoint opens next month, we have a guy like Dwayne working there! So, we got the parts, the water heater, and the instruction for a "mere" $425 (much, much cheaper than the local plumbing supply house) and headed back home. Oh, and Dwayne set us straight about Home Depot's "inferior" quality products. He told us that their products are all made by Rheem or Reliance, the two biggest names in water heaters, and there is nothing inferior about them at all. Considering this water heater has a longer warranty (it's a GE made by Rheem) than the last one, which came from a plumbing supply house, I think I'm going to believe Dwayne. I think local merchants that are afraid of being put out of business by Home Depot have a habit of knocking the quality of their products, saying that's why they're so cheap. In reality, it's because Home Depot buys for 2,000 stores, not one or two. Three cheers for Home Depot!

We got home about 9:30PM. Jonathan helped Tom unload the water heater. Then the trick would be putting it in place. That required that it be lifted up over the gas piping - about 8" - and set down in place. Tom got on his knees and lifted straight up while Jonathan and I just guided it into place. Then Tom let it down. Wow, am I glad he's as strong as he is!!! No mortal could have done this. It was a real feat of strength! Phew! So, water heater is in place. Now we start assembling the blower unit on top, the venting, etc. We have glitches, but it finally gets put together. Ready to fill it up. Disaster. The water pipe that lets water into the tank has a leak - undoubtedly a result of all the bending and tweaking Tom had to put it through to make room for the blower unit. It's 20 years old, so it's not surprising that it developed a pinhole leak. By this time, it's late - midnight - and we're tired, frustrated, and ready for bed - and I haven't been able to help Jonathan at all yet. We get to bed about 1 AM. At 7:45 AM Sunday, in the middle of a very involved dream, Tom wakes me up. He has been up for who knows how long trying to get the old pipe off so he can put a new one on. It won't come off. The book we have on plumbing says that he needs a mapp torch. He only has propane. It specifically says that propane can't get hot enough to melt the non-lead solder. He figured if he heated it long enough, it would eventually work. After messing with it for another 15 minutes or so, I suggest we call a plumber. I figured we'd spend 3 or 4 hours on this project whereas a plumber could knock it out in no time. He acquiesced. I called the guy I'd spoken with Saturday. For $97.50 an hour with a one hour minimum, he could do the work. He arrived about 9:45. He had the pipe off in about 1 minute. The way the old pipe came off the wall, it was a really tight squeeze for the blower to fit. Turned out we needed a new valve anyway, so he just redid that whole connection so we had more room for the blower, a new valve, and new pipe to the tank. $129.50 for parts and labor. All that was left to do was connect the gas, which required I go to the Co-op and get the fitting. There were some snafus there too, but we finally got the right size fitting, hooked up the gas, turned the power on, and voila! - the heater fired up and started heating water. In no time at all, the water was heated and I could start laundry, showers, etc. By the time we finished, it was 1:30 PM. I finally was able to sit down with Jonathan and quiz him on stuff for his tests, help him ponder through various questions for which he had to develop essays, etc. It wasn't the weekend we'd hoped for, but it turned out okay. I know one thing for sure - when this water heater fails, we're getting a tankless one! Had we been able to find one that was power vented, we'd have installed one yesterday. They cost at least twice as much, but you never have this problem of waking up to a flood in your laundry room, you don't spend money heating a tank of water that's just sitting there most of the time (it heats water on demand instead, which is MUCH cheaper), and it woulk likely last the rest of our lives. This is the second water heater we've replaced in 20 years, which means their average life span has been 10 years. I suspect in the not too distant future, tank water heaters will be a thing of the past.

Now, off to work to begin the installation of 34 new Dell computers. This will be an intersting week. It's "peak" at FedEx, which means Tom is working a zillion hours a day and will work Saturday. On a bright note, Jonathan comes home for Christmas Break on Friday. It will be nice to have him home. He's looking forward to seeing his best friend who goes to Georgia Tech. The holiday season has begun!

The week in review

What a week this has been! I got an email from sister about the post about Mom. I guess I made her cry. That was not my intention. I just needed to put down my thoughts. I was happy to see that she reads my blog! Hi Richele! :)

My husband has been battling basal and squamous cell carcinomas for the past few years. He is plagued by them on his shoulders, upper chest, and face. He has had six Mohs surgeries - where they cut out the part of the tumor that they can see with the naked eye, freeze it, and send it to the lab. The lab immediately (while he's in the chair, locally anesthetized) looks at the tissue and tells the doctor to either cut more or that he's gotten it all - he has clean margins, in medical lingo. The process is lengthy. Never does the first cut get it all. When he had two tumors removed from his face, it took nearly all day. These surgeries take place in Spokane, so we have the trek to and fro with which to contend. After the facial carcinomas were removed, we returned to Spokane the following day to see the plastic surgeon who closed the wounds. Tom was administered a general anesthetic for that surgery. As a result, he was nauseous and vomited all the way home. Needless to say, these surgeries are something he dreads. He keeps the carcinomas in check by applying a topical chemotherapy product to his face at various intervals throughout the year. The goal is to catch the precancerous cells, actinic keratoses, before they morph into carcinomas. The week of Thanksgiving he saw the dermatologist's physician's assistant for his semi-annual checkup. He had one spot that bothered him. It had been frozen about 8 months earlier and had never seemed to heal properly. It looked like a weird kind of scar, dark pink and about the size of a BB. She decided to biopsy it. Last Friday the doctor called and left a message. Tom needed more surgery and he needed to talk to him about it. Tom was imagining the worst - more Mohs, more plastic surgery. He wasn't prepared for what was to come. He finally talked with the doctor on Tuesday. He has a form of melanoma. It's not malignant, thankfully, but it is locally invasive, agressive, and can metastasize. It's called atypical fibroxanthoma melanoma, or AFX melanoma. Just the word melanoma is enough to scare the hell out of you. I looked it up on the Internet and found out that he won't die from it, as long as he gets it removed. The doctor said he probably won't get more of them - but then again, he may. Tom is freaking out because he now has to go to an oncologist to have it removed. His doctor won't do these, even though he's one of the top Mohs surgeons in the country. Apparently, to make sure you get it all, you have to do the surgery in a hospital setting with different lab techniques. So, his consultation with the oncologist is the 30th. The surgery is scheduled for January 7. Hopefully, the excision will be small and his face will heal quickly and invisibly. You can't even see the scars from the previous Mohs surgeries. This tumor is just to the left of his left eye, between the eye and temple. It will be an interesting new year. We welcome all prayers!!!

Today is my granddaughter Olivia's birthday! She is six! She is having her birthday party tomorrow at Pizza Hut. She is so excited about it, but even more excited that her little friend, Lindsay, is spending TWO nights with her. I stopped by after work today to give her a birthday kiss and hug and she was all a-twitter. She, her friend and her little brother Tyler were running all over the house, screaming and being silly. It's so fun to watch the kids when they're so happy.

I got 34 new computers in at work today. My work is definitely cut out for me. I have to put those into place, rotate the computers they replace down to replace older more pathetic models, reinstall the applications, make sure everything is configured properly, and figure out where we're going to store the still-working computers that we will replace but not put into use at this time. We're going to store them so that, over the next two years, as the ones we're using now that are 5 years old die, I can pull one from storage and plop it into place. I am excited about having new computers for the patrons. Hopefully, I won't be called ten times a day to come down to help a patron with a computer problem. Then again, I probably WILL because they will be able to do more things, like save to a CD, and they won't know how so they'll need help. Oh well, job security!

Well, it's pouring rain, melting all the snow, it's getting late, Tom's on his way home, so I'm going to start dinner. Have a great weekend everyone!

A Day That Will Live in Infamy

29 years ago today my mother took her life. It would be so much easier if this day could just pass anonymously, but due to the Pearl Harbor Day hoopla, it never does. I woke up and didn't even notice the date on the calendar - until the newspaper arrived. There, proclaimed in headline font, was the reminder - Pearl Harbor Day. Ugh. I don't dwell on her death or its anniversary, but on this day there is a sort of air of melancholy that seems to settle on my world. It's as if I'm somehow a bit more aware of her absence today. I find myself missing her more than usual. I ponder the "what-ifs" just a bit more. I do miss her. She was an amazing woman, a wonderful mother, a terrific wife. Sadly, she suffered from manic-depression in an era before they knew about things like lithium. If she were alive now, she'd be easily treated, like Patty Duke has been. In the 70's the solution was to try to sedate these people with Valium. Nice try guys... doesn't work.

I knew my mom well enough to know that her suicide was not a commentary on her relationship with us kids. She had lived a life of pain and anguish, brightened by her four children and others she loved with all her heart. She was a brilliant woman, admired and respected by all who knew her. With the exception of her closest friends and family, no one knew the demon she battled. Her death came as a shock to so many, but not to her loved ones. She had attempted to end her life on several occasions. When she finally was truly ready, she did so in a way that left no doubt as to its success. As sad as her death was, as great a loss as it was to those who knew and loved her, I know God had a plan even in this. All four of her children have come to know the Lord since her death - likely as a result of it. Just as important, her dear brother, a man that had spent nearly half his life addicted to heroin and that she had helped begin a new life, free from drugs, also became a Christian. I'm convinced Mom is looking down on all of us and smiling. I only wish my husband and children could have known her. She would have loved them all so much and they her. So, on this 29th anniversary of her death, I wanted to say "Mom, I love you. I miss you every day. I can't wait to see you again!"

Walking in a winter wonderland

Yes, folks, another post about the weather. You see, it finally looks like winter outside. It is snowing as I type and it's been snowing pretty much all day. The trees now have that Currier & Ives look to them, as does most of landscape. Looking out my window here at work I feel like I'm in a snow globe someone has just shaken. It really is beautiful - until I have to drive home in it tonight. I would have to say this is the first real snowstorm of the winter. It likely won't amount to huge accumulations, but it is honest-to-goodness snowing outside and things are very wintry looking. Skiers rejoice! Winter has arrived.

Flaky weather prediction

They couldn't have gotten it much more wrong than they did last week. On Friday, the weather forecasters were predicting possibly the biggest winter storm to hit in a decade. Some people greeted this prediction with enthusiasm, especially Schweitzer Ski Resort, Silver Mountain, Mount Spokane, and 49 Degrees North. Les Schwab was packed with procrastinators - those who have yet to mount their winter wheels and tires. The grocery stores were inundated with people buying supplies to get them through a weekend potentially without power. Those of us who've lived here for any length of time are well aware of how power can be interrupted during a winter storm. Even the library was preparing. We printed emergency closure signs "just in case". If the storm got bad enough, or the power failed, we would close for the day. I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was looking forward to our first real snowstorm of the season. It's always magical when we get dumped on. The landscape changes so dramatically. On the other hand, I was dreading it. We were planning to do our Christmas shopping in Spokane on Saturday. A big storm would definitely put those plans on hold. Also, Jonathan has been sick all week and, as is typical with college kids, he wasn't taking very good care of himself. We were going to take him some medicine, feed him a decent meal, buy him some supplies for his room (water, Mountain Dew, and Cup of Noodles) and make sure he was doing okay. We might not be able to make the trek if the roads were treacherous.

By Friday, there was not storm, no snow, nothing. A collective sigh of relief could be heard throughout the region. At least if the storm hit on the weekend we could all just stay home and hibernate. The winter storm watch remained in effect for that night and Saturday though. We held our breath. Saturday morning dawned to a landscape identical to the day before's. No snow. I looked on weather.com for the forecast. The winter storm warning and snow advisory were still in effect, the timing of the storm was just delayed a few hours. We decided to go ahead and make the trip to Spokane. This will likely be Tom's last weekend for shopping. By next weekend he'll be so swamped he'll probably have to work on Saturday. FedEx truly is Santa's shipper of choice this time of year.

We made it to Spokane, did our shopping (got it all done), then went to pick Jonathan up from school. We took him out for a burger at Red Robin, then made a stop at Safeway for supplies. I had already bought him the essential cold and flu remedies in Sandpoint, which I brought with me, so he was ready to face finals week (December 14-18) - at least physically. Let' s hope he's prepared mentally as well. By this time it was about 4:30PM - time to head back - and still no snow. Not even a flake. Wow, I couldn't recall when the forecasters had missed it so badly before. We thought we might be surprised when we reached Sandpoint because often it won't snow in Spokane but will dump on Sandpoint. Not this time. The storm was nowhere to be seen. It was a little disappointing. What on earth could have gone wrong with the forecast models?

Sunday's paper had an article explaining what went wrong. The storm apparently split at some point out in the Pacific with the major storm part going north to Canada while the milder part was what eventually reached us Sunday afternoon. We got a mere 1/2 inch of snow. At the moment it's lightly snowing, but we're not expecting much accumulation. I'm sure all the ski areas and skiers/snowboarders are disappointed. Those of us who have to drive in it, though, are not at all unhappy.

Off to face the day...

Eclectic writings

I've started another blog to which I will post various writings. Some will be poetry, perhaps some pages from the novel I keep threatening to write. A link to it is in my "blogs of note" list for those interested. There is one entry thus far (aside from the original one stating the purpose of the blog). I will welcome criticism as you feel inclined to give it. Enjoy.

I should be working out....

....instead, here I am, at my computer, as if I don't spend enough time here during working hours. What is wrong with me? Don't answer that. I really do need to get back into the workout groove though. I have realized I am woefully out of shape. Simple things, like putting the cover back on the barbecue, result in a pulled (in this case, rhomboid) muscle. That's not a good sign. It was not all that long ago that I was confident my physical condition and strength could carry me through just about anything. Now I struggle to keep from pulling muscles. I'm too young for this feeling.

I decided yesterday to begin getting back into the groove by going for a walk with a coworker at lunch. Just as we were preparing to depart, my brother IM'd me. I had not talked with him at length in ages, so I delayed the departure. I had a great chat with Michael, but by the time we finished I had about 20 minutes for the walk. Actually, my coworker had only 20 minutes as she has a defined lunch hour whereas I have total flexibility when it comes to my hours. We decided to go anyway. It was about 32 degrees out, but it didn't seem that cold once we started walking. It felt great to get out into the fresh air in the middle of the day - something I seldom have the opportunity, or rather, take the time, to do. Unfortunately, my ears started to ache so bad from the cold I could hardly stand it. They hurt on the inside and the outside and continued to hurt for several minutes after we returned to the library. It was not fun - and I have a very high tolerance for pain so you know it had to be bad. I now have to go invest in some ear muffs so I can continue these lunchtime walks. I've never worn ear muffs before. I don't even know where to buy ear muffs. Another coworker told me they make new, sleek ones so you don't look like you have Hostess Snowballs attached to the sides of your head. I wonder where you get those (the sleek ones, not the Snowball ones.)

My boss told me his doctor told him that full spectrum lights (which we have at the library) don't do a darned thing to help your pineal gland and that, this time of year in this part of the world, most people's pineal glands are not even functional. The only way to make it work again is to spend 30 minutes a day outdoors, regardless of whether it's sunny or cloudy, between 9AM and 2PM. Being in an office with windows doesn't count, nor does being in a vehicle all day. You have to be outside. That was the impetus for the walk. A non-functioning pineal gland leads to overeating, oversleeping, depression, weight gain, and a raft of other seasonally affected maladies. No wonder I struggle with my weight and my motivation to workout every winter. And as I age, the ability to lose the weight I gain becomes more of a struggle. Ugh.

So why am I sitting at my computer? Time to go to the gym! Ciao!

Paradise Found

I really do live in a beautiful place. As much as I am not a fan of winter, I have to admit that there is not much more beautiful and peaceful looking as a landscape covered in freshly fallen snow, especially when the sun is shining on it. I took a few more shots of my house and the end of my street in the midday light (as opposed to the somewhat gloomy early morning light).






I live in a neighborhood with its own beach. The beach is a little over a block away. I drove to the beach and took these shots of the view from the street above our beach. They are panoramic beginning looking east toward Montana and ending looking west toward town (Sandpoint). Our beach is actually down below and to the left by about 300 feet of the house under construction in the first photo. We have a lot above the beach with a picnic table, fire pit, BBQ, and parking and then the beach with a dock and launch ramp for our boats. Here's a map of our neighborhood. The beach is at the end of the road on the left that goes down to the water. It's 0.3 miles from the house.



Now for some photos of the lake... of course, you can click on these for larger versions.









This truly is a beautiful place in which to live!

Ali Cat has her legs back

Today Ali gets her "casts" off. I will pick her up from the vet's office at 3PM. He had to knock her out again and will glue some sort of claw caps onto her back claws that will make her claws dull and prevent her from scratching herself for a bit longer. She will likely still be groggy when I pick her up. I hate to see her that way. But she will be so happy to have access to her fur on her back legs and her feet and her "toes". She has adapted so well to the "casts", even becoming brave enough to jump up onto the bar stools in the dining room. Nevertheless, she couldn't lay the way she preferred with her back feet tucked beneath her body, so having complete flexibility back will surely be a relief to her. I can't wait to take her home. Poor thing couldn't eat last night or this morning. Like humans, cats under sedation can vomit and aspirate, so they have to go in with an empty stomach. She was starving this morning. Oddly, she didn't even fight me when I put her into her carrier. That was a first. I think she's finally resigned herself to these trips to the vet. Maybe she sensed that the end was in sight. I'll take pictures of her claw covers if I can and post them.

First snow

Finally. It's a bit late this year. Usually the first real snow hits just before Thanksgiving. This little snowfall barely qualifies - we maybe got 2 inches - but everything is dusted with a layer of frosty icing so we have to count it. It is 7AM and it is still snowing so who knows what the accumulation will be by the day's end? The falling snow is pretty pathetic though. It's wet and the "flakes" are more like small clumps of snow than the nice flaky stuff we will get later. Driving should be fun today. Somehow, between March and November, everyone forgets how to drive in the snow. People will be sliding through intersections, spinning their wheels at takeoff, slipping onto the shoulders of the road. It's a day to take it r-e-a-l-l-y slowly. Here are some shots of the front yard and of the house. The first one was taken at about 6AM while it was still dark out. I just took the second shot a few minutes ago. They are of the island we have in the front yard taken from the porch.



This is from the porch looking down the street.



The next two photos are of the house. Again, one at 6AM and one at 7-ish. The first one was taken while I was on the porch, the second is from the driveway. By December the pond gets completely iced over. We used to have koi and goldfish in it - that survived the winter beneath the ice - but our daughter accidentally killed them two years ago when she was watching the house while we were on vacation. She put the hose in the pond to top it off and forgot about it. It ran for two hours, filling the pond with chlorinated water. When she remembered and came back to turn off the hose, all four of the 8" long fish were floating upside down. Ooops. Now we just put fountain heads on it during the summer and keep it crystal clear with some decorative accents in it.






We have a squirrel feeder in the island. I know some people hate squirrels, considering them no better than other unpleasant rodents, but I think they are adorable, especially when they're playing with each other. This one squirrel has found the feeder and is a frequent visitor. I love watching him opening and closing the lid, emerging each time with his prize - a piece of corn, a sunflower seed, or the best prize of all, a peanut. Here's a shot of him from a couple of days ago (same scene as above photos before the snow).






Unfortunately, he left the lid open so now it's full of snow. I'll have to go clean it out and refill the feeder. Silly squirrels.

Two Thumbs Up

I have never been a fan of movie critics. It seems to me that their primary function in life is to pan the movies that the masses love and rave about the movies that the average folks won't go near. They are snobs. They are like art critics. The prints that so many people buy and hang in their homes don't qualify as "art" because they are prints, not originals. Even the original from which the prints are made doesn't qualify because it was made into prints. Good grief! Is art only something so bizarre and esoteric you need an interpreter in order to understand it? I love modern art as much as the next guy. I was an art major for crying out loud. But I never quite understood why Jackson Pollock's splattering of paint on a canvas is so valuable while Stephen Lyman's work is not even considered art. I am fortunate enought to own Warmed by the View (the jpeg doesn't do it justice) and marvel at his talent. He was incredible when it comes to painting fire.

Anyway, back to critics. If a critic disses a movie, I am sure to like it. Such was the case this past weekend. My husband, son and I took in National Treasure and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was great entertainment in the purest sense. Nic Cage was his usual semi-neurotic self, which was perfect for the character he was playing. His sidekick almost stole the show, in my opinion. I couldn't help but keep thinking that he reminded me a lot of my son's college roommate (I don't know why exactly, Nathan, but he really did) and it wasn't just his appearance. Something about his grin, his quirky sense of humor, I just kept seeing Nathan in that role. The movie isn't deep, or thought-provoking, it's somewhat predictable, but it's fun. And you get a dose of history as you watch it, which is fun too. It smacked of Raiders of the Lost Ark quite a bit, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it and being entertained. I don't know about you, but I go to the movies to be entertained. Now and then I want to be provoked into thought, as you are while watching Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan, but sometimes I just want good old fun. National Treasure delivers that. I give it two thumbs up.

Feasts and Family

Thanksgiving was great! We had the whole gang over and enjoyed great (too much) food and each others' company. I got up at 7AM to get the 25+ pound turkey in the oven so we could eat by 1PM. I had yet to make the stuffing, hence my early rising time.

The stuffing is something that changes from year to year, depending upon my mood. For several years I made a rice stuffing, which was always a big hit, but it seemed like everyone wanted the traditional bread stuffing as well, so I often made both. I was younger then. I have spent far too many Thanksgivings cooking all day so have streamlined my efforts over the past few years. I now make just the bread stuffing. What goes into it is what differs each year. This year it was cornbread with apples, dried cranberries, mandarin oranges, water chestnuts, and pecans. It was seasoned with allspice, nutmeg, thyme, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Most of it goes into the bird, but there are those family members who refuse to eat stuffing from the bird, so a separate dish of stuffing that is baked is prepared for them. It was delicious!

The only other things I make are my "famous" mashed yams with marshmallows on top and the gravy. The kids bring the mashed potatoes, vegetables, pies, fruit salad and rolls. Though we've tried to make more realistic amounts of everything, we always end up with way too much food. It's crazy. This year's turkey was picture perfect - straight out of a magazine. It was in the oven by 8:30AM and ready by 12:30PM.

Here's a great shot of three of the four grandkids enjoying their feast. They are from left to right, Alyssa (2), Tyler (3 1/2), and Olivia (6). Grandpa is behind them.

The weather was gorgeous - sunny, crisp, and clear. We have so much to be thankful for! The Lord has truly blessed us. The only thing missing was my brother and his family. He has come for Thanksgiving for almost as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, he now lives too far away to visit for the holiday. We really missed his presence. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday surrounded by those you love.

Ali loves Jonathan

I've mentioned our cat, Ali, several times. Ali is Jonathan's cat. She adores him - and misses him horribly when he's not here. When he is home, wherever he is, she is. Case in point - he fell asleep on the couch the first day he was home for the holiday. I walked into the living room to find him dozing on the couch with Ali dozing right above him. I had to capture this moment.

Last week Jonathan gave me a pair of his jeans to mend for him. They were sitting on the couch waiting for me to get to them. I was sitting on the sofa reading when I looked up and noticed Ali snuggled up on Jonathan's jeans, as if simply being on something of his, something with his scent, made her feel close to him.

I don't know if you can see the "casts" on her legs or not. She started scratching herself silly late this summer. Apparently she has some allergy to some mites. She got several injections to kill the mites, but she kept scratching at the scabbed up wounds. Finally, as a last resort, the vet bandaged her back legs to keep her from scratching herself until the wounds heal. It has worked great and she will get the "casts" off tomorrow. If she starts scratching again, the only solution will be to declaw her back feet - something we really don't want to do. We're hoping she'll forget she ever itched on her neck!

Well, it's time to get ready for work. After a week off, it is going to be tough getting back into the groove again. At least it's sunny! :)